//------------------------------// // Completing the Mission: RPE and GI // Story: Rainbow Dash and a Stickmin // by Rainbow sparkle1 //------------------------------// Three days after fleeing the complex... Dash handed Henry his top hat as she had brought it with her while looking for him. She thought it was time to head back to base. She led him to an escape pod from the airship and told him to take it. She said Reginald and the other Toppats were currently heading to base to talk about the orbital station they were going to launch soon, and Henry nodded. He remembered talking to Reginald about that several times. A few minutes go by as they were making their way to the airship when they arrived and the escape pod started to lower down into one of the doors. Little did they know, however, that there was someone with them the entire time. Once they made it to the cockpit of the airship, everyone looked toward the entrance to find Henry and Dash walking through, to which Reginald decided to speak up. "Henry! Where have you been?" he asked. "Oh, you wanna know?!" a voice behind Henry said. Everyone looked to see a red-haired woman with a very stern expression on her face. everyone except Henry looked at her confused, while Henry looked a bit nervous. It was the same woman that helped him escape! "This isn't good..." Henry thought. "He was locked up at The Wall with me!" She yelled as she pointed accusingly at Henry. "Henry never told me about her, unless..." Dash thought. "Um. Who are you? How did you get here?" Reginald asked. "Oh, I'm Eille," The woman answered, "I heard the guy I helped escape was the leader of the Toppat Clan, so I busted myself out and followed him." Then she turned to Henry. "I helped you escape, and you just... left me." Dash was taken aback. She thought Henry was better than this. That's not a true act of loyalty to just abandon someone after they help you! Dash was furious at this, and so was Reginald. "What?!" he exclaimed, "Have you no honor?! No dignity?! Actions like this tarnish the Toppat name. Men, is this really what we want out of a leader? He barged in here, took control of the Toppat Clan for himself! He's not worthy of being our leader! I say we throw him overboard! Who's with me?!" Most of the Toppats there cheered as Henry looked around with sweat dropping off his head. He was afraid of this, and now he was afraid of Dash joining their side. Ellie and some Toppats swarmed him to take him to a balcony. Once there, the entire airship division of the Toppats was watching this unfold, while Henry was looking down at the ground from the plank he was standing on. He turned around to find Dash staring at him with sad eyes. "Rainbow, you're still with me, right?" he asked her. Dash looked away as two other Toppats began to speak. "Why are we doing this? I thought Henry was a pretty good leader," one said "Yeah, you know. This doesn't really feel-" the other said before being interrupted by Right Hand Man. "Take any loyalists to the brig." Two toppats volunteered to take them to the brig and left the scene. Henry's eyes were still on Dash as the events unfolded, and he called out to her again. "Dashie? Are you even listening to me?" That was the last straw for her. Henry didn't deserve to call her that anymore. She looked back at him with tears in her eyes. "If you think I'm going to take your side, then you're wrong," she said through her tears, "Remember when we first met? you had the option to either abandon or help me. You chose to help me, but you had the same choice here and you went the opposite direction. Now I know you were using me for your own advantage to get where you are now. I know what loyalty is, Henry, and what you've done, is nowhere near it. Even if you may be my one ticket home, I'd rather never go home again than stick with you!" Henry was heartbroken as he watched Dash leave the scene to go to the brig and help put the loyalists away. He wanted to apologize for everything, but he never got that chance as he saw Reginald smile wickedly. "Seems like your long-time friend doesn't trust you anymore. She's proven her loyalty. I was also going to get rid of her, but now I've changed my mind. As for you, Henry, you are hereby dethroned from your position as leader of the Toppat Clan! I'm going to want that hat back." He walked closer to Henry with the incentive of taking his hat. But fueled by rage and betrayal, Henry grabbed Reginald by the wrist and threw him off the platform. Right Hand Man used his new cybernetics to transform his legs into a booster, allowing him to fly, and shot off to save Reginald. Henry took a defensive stance as he saw one member throw a rifle to Ellie and take one for himself. They both aimed their weapons at him. "Jump. Or I'll make you jump," Ellie ordered. If Henry was going to get out of this situation and apologize to Dash, he needed to think of something. Chainsaw Save State Helicopter Hat Plead He knew pleading wouldn't work, and he didn't understand where the "save state" comes in. The chainsaw might work if he used it was a weapon, but they had gun, so that wouldn't really work. Thing is, with the hat modifications he has, he can trick everyone into thinking he actually jumped, so it could work. Chainsaw Save State Helicopter Hat Plead He saluted to the Toppats before jumping off the platform, and when he confirmed nobody was watching, he activated the helicopter mechanism in his hat and flew back at the airship. After a few seconds, he crashed into it and took out a member, while almost taking out a security guard that was being held in their brig. Henry tipped his hat to the security guard and crawled out of the hole he made to find himself in the brig. "Henry?" a voice said behind him. He looked to see the members who took his side at the denouncement ceremony. "We're with ya, Henry! Get us out of here!" the one named Geoffrey said through the cell door. He was about to find a way to open the doors when the member he took out started to get back up. Henry realized he had the key to the cell doors and needed to find a way to get rid of him. Toppy Mind Crystal Dave Even though he knew his hat had all sorts of different abilities, he didn't think it would work here. He didn't understand the mind crystal and how it worked despite his knowledge of it. He assumed Dave was the security guard in the damaged cell and thought he had some potential, so he let Dave do his thing while he waited for the perfect opportunity to attack. Toppy Mind Crystal Dave "Come on Dave, you got this," Dave told himself before lunging at the Toppat. The Toppat member noticed him and tackled him to the floor. However, as he was distracted, Henry snuck up on him and karate-chopped his head, knocking him out. Once he fell to the floor, Henry began to search for the key in his pockets. After recovering, Dave got back up and stuttered slightly, "Good... Good teamwork." Once Henry found the key, he used it to unlock the cell and free the members that were on his side. Once they were free, Geoffrey spoke. "Thanks, Henry! It's not right what they did to ya." Before they could continue, they heard an announcement from the cockpit. "The denouncement ceremony has been completed. Henry is no longer the leader of the Toppat Clan." As Dash was making her way to the brig, she couldn't help but think what her friends would think if she never returned home. She cried the whole way there as she thought about each of their reactions to this situation, and how they'd react to becoming a criminal and them possibly not wanting anything to do with her anymore. As she reached the brig, she heard an announcement being made about Henry no longer being the leader, and grits her teeth as she remembers Henry's betrayal. Why did he leave Ellie behind and not her? Was he really just using her for his own gain? When she opened the door to the brig, she saw Henry standing there with the freed loyalists as well as the captured security guard. She glared at Henry and spread her wings to attack him. "Dash, wait! I have something to say!" Henry said, putting his hands up to tell her to stop. "Yeah right, about how you betrayed me! I thought you were my friend!" Dash angrily shouted back through her tears. "I can explain! I only abandoned her because I thought it would cause a ruckus! Plus I couldn't come up with a way we'd be able to help her after we escaped! I never wanted to abandon her like that, and I would've helped her if I knew what to do! I'm sorry for making you think I was just using you, however, that was never the case! I view you as a true friend and would never use you for my own gain! Can you forgive me?" Dash continued to glare at him as she processed his words. She thought about it for a few minutes as she walked into the brig. "Is he really telling the truth? If he is, he better prove himself and show he was never using me," she thought. "Only on one condition Henry, you prove to me you're telling the truth. I'll come with you for now, but if you continue to use me, then I'll come back here and tell everyone here you tricked everyone into thinking you actually jumped," she told him, getting a nod in response. Henry was relieved to hear Dash was okay with this, but still a little sad she no longer fully trusted him. Dash walked over to him with a still quizzical expression as he turned to Geoffrey. When Geoffrey saw it was his turn to speak, a smile grew on his face and he said, "How do you want to proceed, boss? I got a few ideas!" The Good Gents Midnight Surprise Deuces! Plan A was for them to ambush the cockpit and take out the second in command to Henry, AKA. Reginald. They thought about this plan but remembered Right Hand Man had overpowered cybernetics now, meaning they could get rid of them easily. Plan B was for them to ambush the entire airship right when the clock struck midnight. In the time before then, they'd set up bombs around the airship and blow them up at midnight, but the thing was, with the number of bombs around the airship, they probably would die in the explosion, so it would instantly backfire from there. Plan C was to jump into an escape pod and come up with a different plan from there. That was their best approach for now, so they went with it. The Good Gents Midnight Surprise Deuces! Geoffrey ran over to a nearby escape pod and spoke after opening it. "Quick everyone! Get into this escape pod!" When everyone got inside, the pod activated and they left the airship without anyone knowing for now. Though with the five of them in there at once, it felt a little crowded. "Kinda... tight in here..." Dave commented. A few seconds go by and they suddenly hear a thud come from the bottom of the pod. All of them jumped at the sudden noise and the guy named Thomas Chestershire made a comment. "What was that?" Geoffrey made a noise as an answer, saying he didn't know what caused the noise. He just assumed they hit a bird on they way. Once they landed, they all got out to inspect the damage to the pod and noticed that they hadn't hit a bird at all. Dash took a closer look and realized they hit Reginald and Right Hand Man. She questioned how they got there, but she assumed something happened after she left the denouncement ceremony. "What now, boss? Looks like we're on our own," Geoffrey asked Henry. Henry put his hand behind his neck as he tried to come up with a plan to take back control of the Toppats. At least he has Dash with him now, but she doesn't trust him anymore, so he has to prove to her he was never using her while they're trying to take back the Toppat clan, but how was he going to do that? A few weeks have passed, and still no luck with taking back the Toppats. However, in that time, the clan realized Reginald and Right Hand Man were missing, so they cast a vote and decided Ellie would be their new leader. With Henry though, he managed to prove to Dash that he wasn't using her by going on a solo mission similar to when they stole the Tunisian Diamond, so she apologized for jumping to conclusions and he forgave her for doing so. Now the group were fighting for one former leader who was in the wrong, while the rest of the clan was fighting to show he was wrong for what he did, with their leader being the victim of his actions. MISSION COMPLETE! YOUR ENDING: Toppat Civil Warfare